Alice Missing
by sweeplogs
Summary: Alice came back after three days missing, leaving Jasper hysterical, but she has no memory of anything. The family use everything they have to restore her memory. But who did this to her?
1. One

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight, or anything associated with it. I am in no way affiliated with Stephenie Meyer. Her characters have merely run slightly off track in this story.  
I believe thats it. **

I paced in front of the television, across the living room, through the foyer, into the kitchen. I stopped in the dining room and grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled. Alice had been gone for three, sleepless days. I knew that that was normally nothing for me, but without Alice, it was the longest three days I recall spending. I paced back out into the kitchen, and into the foyer.

"Jasper, stop pacing. Stop thinking." Edward moaned from the chair. I walked back into the living room, and Edward was the first one I focused on, leaning forward, hunched over and pinching the bridge of his nose. Everyone else was occupying the rest of the furniture, sprawled out, heads thrown back. Everyone seemed to be feeling the loss that Alice's disappearance had made. Until I realized that I was projecting what I was feeling onto them and manipulating their emotions so much it kept them in their seats. I immediately reigned it back in.

"Oh, thank you!" Rosalie said viciously, getting up and brushing herself off, like dust had collected on her while she was sitting there. She left the room haughtily, heading up to her bedroom.

"Jasper," Carlisle started, but I cut him off.

"Shouldn't we go looking for her?" I asked hysterically, my voice getting higher pitched with each word, and my fighting instinct kicking in.

"She said she'd be back, she's quite independent.." Edward answered calmly. I snarled at him, and he looked ataken back, but not scared.

"She's been too long!" I cried, trying to keep my emotions from drifting to those who were present.

"She'll come back in due time." Carlisle reassured me, but it was pointless. I was way past the point of reassurance.

"Jasper..." It was Esme who said it this time. She stood up and took a half step towards me, but I held up a hand to stop her.

"I dont want it." I said, a little more harshly than I intended. I put my head in my hands.

"Do you want to fight this out?" I heard Emmett ask, no doubt flexing his muscles. Then he was beside me, and my reflexes stuck my hand out and pushed him. I looked up as he crashed into the couch that Carlisle was sitting on, and it rocked backwards dangerously before Carlisle steadied it, the legs breaking and the couch slumping to the floor.

"Whoa bro," Emmett said, looking wide-eyed at me.

"That was not a good idea." Carlisle said sternly, sounding like a father as he pointed at Emmett. His finger then swung around to point at me. "And there's no reason to be lashing out like that."

I hung my head in shame. What Carlisle said was correct, but I still didn't believe that I was overreacting._ Alice is missing._

"She'll be back." Edward answered, and for the first time in my long life, I wished that I could see the future. Sadly though, our forcaster wasn't here, and it was hard not knowing everything that was going to happen.

"We'll just wait it out." Esme said softly, sitting on the broken couch. "I'll have to get a new one." She muttered, running her hands over it.

"I'm sorry." I replied, walking over and slumping into the love seat. I felt and smelled, rather than relying on my sight, Esme sit down next to me.

"Come on Jasper." She whispered. "Everyone has their weak moments." I looked over at her incredulously through my fingers. She knew my story, what was she talking about? Then, tentatively and carefully, she reached her arms out to wrap around me and pulled me to her chest. I didn't pull away or fight it, I just let myself be pulled over to her. "I know you have the hardest time here of all of us." She cooed. "Tell me what happened when Alice was heading out the door."

I froze, remembering the last time I had seen Alice, but something about Esme's voice compelled me to share.

"We were standing outside on the deck, enjoying the afternoon, she was dancing around, excited about something. I tried to be excited too, but I didn't know what brought it on. She was so happy, like Alice always is. She told me she was going hunting, but when I asked her if I could come, she declined, saying that she'd be back by nightfall, and I believed her, because she can tell the future. You don't bet against Alice. I said 'Alright, that's fine.' and then she said 'I knew you'd be fine with it.' and she gave me a kiss and bounced towards the trees, waving." I said, remembering it all too vividly, I saw Edward out of the corner of my eye listening, seeing what I was seeing at that moment.

I suddenly heard footsteps on the gravel of the driveway. I perked up, breaking free of Esme's mothering hold. I held myself down, my legs tensing up to spring, listening closely, waiting until she got to the house. She got closer, and I could smell her. Six, long seconds later there was a knock on the door. I was to my feet before I even realized it. Carlisle, the first one to the door, opened it, There stood Alice, my Alice, but there was something different. She merely stood there looking confused, her eyes curiously blank. She didn't bound in, or call out a greeting to us.

"Alice!" I shouted, wrapping my arms around her small frame. I squeezed her tight to my body until I heard the words she asked, sounding mystified and apalled, shattering my heart:

"Who's Alice?"

I stopped breathing, and went cold. How could she really not know? I shook her violently.

"You're Alice!" I yelled at her, then Edward's arm interceded and pulled me away from my Alice.

"I didn't know that I'd find such a violent family." She said, looking at us all in wonder. We were all grouped around her in a loose semi-circle. She looked at us all again, her gaze resting on Rosalie, who was closest to her on her left.

"You have such pretty hair!" She yelled suddenly, grabbing ahold of Rosalies blonde locks and yanking.

"What the..?!" Rosalie exclaimed, not expecting it. She took a step back as Alice let go of her hair. "You damned little pixie!" She growled, leaping at Alice, but Emmet stepped in the way just in time. Rosalie crashed into Emmet's shoulder, the sound of boulders hitting each other as he grabbed her and held on tight. She was out for blood.

Carlisle stepped in then, putting his hand on Rosalie's arm, visibly calming her down. I realized that I should have been the one to calm her down before she lept at Alice, but my emotions were so haywire right now that there was no forcing emotions on anyone else. Carlisle then turned to me, but it was quite a long time before I could tear my eyes away from Alice, who was playing with the buttons on Esme's sweater, quite childishly.

"I think we need to check her out, for what happened to her." He said lowly, and I saw everyone else turn their ears to listen to our conversation, all except Alice.

"Yes, do you propose we take her to your study?" I replied, my glance flitting between Carlisle and Alice.

"That sounds like a plan." He replied, then turned to Alice. "Little lady, what do you say we go upstairs and talk?" He asked her, holding out his elbow.

"That sounds delightful." Alice giggled, taking it. Carlisle led her up the stairs and into his study, me not too far behind them.

When we got in there, Carlisle sat Alice down, and I lingered by the door; apprehensive of her first reaction to me. Carlisle turned on the bright lamp beside her and sat down across from her.

"Why are the lights so bright in here?" Alice squealed, covering her eyes with her forearm.

"No need to worry." Carlisle said gently. "We just need to check you over."

Alice dropped her arm and screamed.

"You can't touch me there!" She covered her face again and crossed her legs.

"Settle down, Alice. I'm Dr. Cullen. You know me well." Carlisle said, and I heard the hesitation in his voice.

Alice peeked out from her arm, then opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out.

"Ahh." She said, looking at Carlisle. He looked surprised.

"That's ... er, not what I need." He looked confused.

"Isn't that what the doctor does?" Alice was the one to be confused now.

"No, I'm just going to talk to you. What do you prefer that I call you?" He asked.

"Glenda." Alice folded her arms. "My name is Glenda."

"Oh.. well, Glenda." If Carlisle looked confused before, he looked so much more now. "Does anything strange ever happen to you?"

"I have, like these daydreams where I see something and then it actually happens. I knew that you were going to bring me to this room. I knew I should find you." Alice said as a matter of factly. Carlisle nodded, not needing to write this down to remember. He gestured towards me as he spoke his next sentence.

"And did you know that you're married to this man?" He asked, still gentle. Alice looked over at me, her eyes dim.

"He's not my husband." She said softly, after studying me for some time. I sucked in air.

"Have you seen anyone you met today in your visions?"

"Yes. I saw all of you. Including him." She jerked her thumb my way. "That's why I came here."

"Do you know all of their names?" Carlisle was leaning forward now.

"No."

"Would you like to?"

"I don't know."

"Follow me."

I opened the door and Carlisle and Alice exited it and headed down the stairs. I followed after them, keeping my distance. When we got to where everyone was still standing, Carlisle took ahold of Alice's arm and everyone circled around.

"Glenda; I am Carlisle. This is Emmett and Rosalie. They're married. Edward, my wife Esme and Jasper, your husband."

Alice looked at them all in silence with a straight face. She locked eyes with me, and I no longer saw the bubbly excited old Alice. I didn't see anyone behind her blank golden eyes.

"It's nice to meet you all. You must be my family."

"Yes Alice dear. Do you remember me?" Esme asked, her hands clasped in front of her. Alice stared at her for some time before answering.

"No." She answered.

"Edward." Carlisle said suddenly. "Why don't you take her out hunting?" Carlisle stared at Edward for a few seconds longer. Then Edward finally nodded and slipped out the door, Alice on his heels.

"Family." Carlisle announced. "I think we need to have a family discussion. He gestured grandly into the dining room.

After everyone had sat down, Carlisle stood at the head of the table. Leaning on it, he looked around at all of us in turn, his eyes meeting mine and lingering for a long moment before speaking again.

"I have a plan."


	2. Two

Carlisle laid his hands down on the table, and paused, turning his ear towards the south wall before speaking. He unnecessarily cleared his throat.

"Okay guys, I want to call this one, 'Meeting Bella'. We can replay out the time that Alice met Bella, maybe it might bring back some familiar memories. I think that maybe if she were exposed to things that she had done before she disappeared, it might begin to bring back her memory. It's worth a try, I mean, what could go wrong?" Carlisle said, looking at the whole family in turn, then his mouth twisted in confusion.

"Wow, this certainly is different. Who will I get to..." He trailed off, looking around at the whole family, seeming to deliberate. His eyes finally came to a rest on me.

"Jasper, I want you to go get Bella. Explain everything to her while bringing her back as quick as you can. Edward will not be back until after our plan is complete. Remember that Bella is an important factor in bringing Alice's memory back."

"Alright Carlisle." I said, standing up. Why had he chosen me to go get Bella? He seemed to be eliminating the family members most involved with this. What was he up to? I heard him listing off orders as I walked out of the room.

"Rosalie, you're one of the fastest, catch up to Edward and tell him to keep her entertained for a while longer. Tell him to stay within the range so that he can read my mind, but be careful, don't make it seem like you're an attacker. Esme, would you go grab the whiteboard from the attic, Emmett, run to Bella's house. Bring back her truck. Park it at the end of the driveway. Rose! Wait, make sure to tell Edward to make sure that Alice does not see the truck"

I sauntered into the garage, looked at the large key rack, and grabbed the keys to Edward's Volvo; I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I borrowed it, and sped out the driveway, making it to Bella's house in a few short minutes. I stared up at her house for a moment, remembering Carlisle's words as I thought of the bloodlust that I would have to endure while she was in the enclosed space beside me, living and breathing and pumping blood. "Remember that Bella is an important factor in bringing Alice's memory back." echoed through my spacious mind, as I opened the door of the car and walked up the front steps to her house. I had barely raised my hand to knock, when the door flung open.

"Ed..." Bella greeted, her smile as wide as the ocean. It fell when she saw me standing on her doorstep instead of Edward. "Jasper...?" Her eyebrows furrowed and her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Hi Bella, tell your father that you are coming to our residence please." I said politely, with a hint of command. Bella needed to listen to me, she needed to come with me.

"But..why?" She asked. Her slow human thought process started to rub on my nerves, I brushed past her until I found her father in the living room, watching the game. He looked up as I came in, shocked at seeing me.

"Good afternoon Chief Swan." I heard panic laced through my voice, and I decided to use my gift to the best of my ability, sending waves of persuasion towards Charlie.

"Hello..." Charlie asked, sitting forward.

"Jasper, sir. I was wondering if I might take Bella to our residence for the afternoon." I said pleasantly, he thought it through.

"Of course, have her back by a decent time though." Charlie sounded confused, and I felt his confusion as well.

"Yes sir." I said turning around into Bella, I grabbed her arm and drug her into the front hallway.

"Bella, this is urgent and I need you to comply with me." I said lowly, making sure that Charlie did not hear.

"What's going...?" She started, but I cut her off.

"I'll explain in the car." I growled. "Where are your keys?"

"They're upstairs" She paused, bringing her finger up to her chin, looking off upstairs. "In the whitewashed jeans in my hamper."

"One moment then." I said, and heard her gasp as I became a blur to her human eyes as I ran upstairs, grabbed the key and was back down in less than two seconds. I held the key up to her, and waited for her to take it.

"Bella," I said softly. "I need you to drive your truck around the corner and leave it there, then climb into the car with me. Emmett will be following us and bringing your truck to the house."

She only nodded, and followed me out the door. She got in her truck and drove it around the corner, parking it on the side of the road. She got out, and stood at the door, looking at me. I leaned across the seat and opened the door.

"Leave the key in the visor." I told her, beckoning her to get in. I started off, and was surprised by her sudden scent. It smelled so good, I could feel the venom pooling in my mouth. I glanced over and I could see the veins pulsing under her translucent skin. I shook my head and rolled down all the windows, immediately filling the car with the scent of fresh air. I heard Bella squeak and try to cover her hair.

"I'm sorry, you don't mind, do you?" I asked, giving Bella a tight smile.

"What?" She yelled, looking at me wildly. "Jasper, you're going to have to speak louder, please."

I raised my voice a little bit, making sure that it would carry to her ears even if I didn't yell.

"Alice came back today after being gone for three days. We have a plan to restore her memory, but we need your help because it's the whole 'Meeting Bella' thing again. We don't know if it will work, but we have to try."

"Why didn't Edward pick me up?" She yelled,

"Edward had taken Alice out hunting right now, and the rest of the family is waiting for us, to develop the plan, and we decided you were relevant in it because you're part of the family." I replied, by the time I had finished my sentence, we had arrived at the house.

"Carlisle," I said at a normal conversation level, walking through the garage and into the kitchen. "I've brought Bella here, Emmett is on his way."

Esme strode into the kitchen and gave Bella a tight hug.

"Bella, it's good that you're here. We need you, sweetie." She whispered to Bella, leading her into the dining room where Carlisle stood at the head of the table, Rosalie pacing in the back corner.

"So, I'm not sure if I follow what exactly happened." Bella said loudly, seeming to forget that we were vampires. Carlisle sighed and looked over at me.

"Would you like to explain again Jasper?" He asked, his voice forver calm.

"Go for it." I mumbled in return, taking a seat at the table. Bella sat down across from me.

"Okay Bella." Carlisle said, turning to her. "Alice had been gone for three days. I don't know if Edward mentioned it or not, but things got pretty stressful around here. I'm not surprised he didn't bring you over. Today, she came back, her memory wiped and claiming that she was Glenda. We don't know what happened to her, or how, or why. Or maybe even who it was. But we want to try to restore her memory, and I believe that you are an important part of it because you not very recently came into the family. We want to try the most recent first. I want to believe that you are completely and totally in on this plan. Are you Bella?"

"Of course I am." Bella replied, shock rolling off of her. "And Edward is with her, Jasper told me?"

"Yes, Edward will be with her while we figure this out. He'll be back soon enough though." Carlisle confirmed.

"You can see him soon." Esme said softly, sitting down next to Bella, putting her arm around her.

Emmett then strode in through the door, giving Rosalie a peck on the cheek and sitting down next to me.

"So, family. Have we decided anything yet? Bella, your truck is annoyingly slow. I would have made it here faster, but the thing won't go up past fifty." He sat, leaning back in his chair. Bella blushed, blood flowing to her cheeks. It made it hard to look away. But I could control it. I tore my eyes away and focused on Carlisle, who had the dry erase marker open and was ready to write on the board.

"Rosalie, if you might sit." Carlisle said, slightly formally. I felt how tense everyone was, and I sent off slight calm and perseverance towards them. Esme smiled over at me as Rosalie took her seat next to Emmett.

"Family, now that we're all gathered around, I think that we can recall the events of the day that we all were formally introduced to Bella. I'm only writing this down for Bella's benefit and to reflect upon if this plan doesn't work." He smiled over at Bella. "I think that with our perfect memories and Bella's, we can figure it out"

"We can't almost kill Bella again with some sadistic vampire. Though James might be a good idea for her, if he was still alive." I growled. "I know Jasper, but he was the main reason that she was changed. Hmm, though she didn't remember it until he started chasing after Bella. Maybe we could start with Edward sneaking off to Bella's house like he did those first couple months? Alice was excited about that" Carlisle said, playing around with ideas, us listening closely to his meanderings.

"But Carlisle, we don't want to wait that long, do we?" I asked, then waited for the split second it took him to think it over.

"You're right. We want her memory back as soon as possible."

"I hope this works." Esme whispered, her voice low and fast.

"I hope so too. It's worth a try." He wandered over and took Esme's hand in his own.

"We need to do something today." I said, pushing my chair back.

"We know, Jasper. That's why we're doing the 'Meeting Bella' thing over again. But we need everything to be the same, and I stress _everything_. Right down to what we were wearing. Bella, when you left, who was driving?" Carlisle was projecting calm, and I felt Bella's surprise at being singled out. I looked over at her, and her eyes met mine, staying there as she thought it over.

"Edward, of course." It wasn't Bella who answered, but Rosalie, swiftly and almost inconspicuously. Carlisle glanced at her, almost as if to scold her, but he laughed at the apparent joke.

"Yeah, Edward was driving my truck." Bella's small voice came from across the table.

"Emmett and I weren't here." Rosalie smiled, her emotions betraying what her and Emmett were doing while they were gone.

"I was wearing a long khaki-coloured skirt and my dark blue blouse. My hair was in a ponytail." Bella said, slightly more confidently. Her reactions to the memories of that day assaulting me.

"They came in the morning, the children had taken bets the previous night." Esme said softly.

"Why anyone would bet against Alice..." Emmett grinned goofily.

"Yes. this is all good." Carlisle replied, already having it all written down on the board.

"Would Alice's closet remind her of what happened? Do I have to let her dress me? And what if she doesn't pick out the clothes that we did actually wear that day?"

"I don't know what to tell you. Should we put it at the foremost of the closet? So she'll just grab it and throw it at you." Carlisle suggested. He was slightly confused. I sent out more calm to keep anybody from losing it.

"I was wearing a white blouse and cream coloured skirt." Esme said suddenly. "Carlisle, you were wearing those slacks that you had to keep Alice from giving away and your off-white shirt. Jasper, you were wearing a light grey button-up shirt and light blue jeans. Alice was wearing that dress, it was the blue one."

"Yes. You're right." Carlisle was looking at the board now, all of our names and clothes written out in small letters at the top right hand corner. "We need particulars now."

"I'm not very good at acting." Bella spoke up.

"It's okay sweetie, just think of the day you met us. It'll be okay if it's a little off." Esme reassured Bella, and her nervousness died out at once.

"We were standing by the piano, waiting for her when Edward introduced us, we shook hands with Bella." Carlisle said, his hand flying across the board. "We did all those introductions, and then Edward asked where Alice and Jasper were..."

"Then we came down the staircase." I threw in, "and Alice ran towards her and told her she smelled good."

"Wait, is Alice going to be okay being so close to Bella?" Rosalie put in.

"We'll have to ask Edward when he comes back how she fared." Carlisle confirmed.

"Wait, if we're starting at Bella's house, why was the truck brought here?" I asked suddenly, surprising even myself. Everyone turned to look at Carlisle, who thought about it then dropped his head to his hands.

"You're right, you're right." He said, his voice muffled. I felt his extreme tenseness at this overlooked thing.

"She would have heard the truck too." Emmett put in. "She might even smell Bella in here."

"Well, we're hoping she overlooks both of those things." Esme said, reassuringly. Everyone was starting to get tense.

"How is Bella going to get home if the truck isn't here, anyway?" Emmett then asked.

"She'll drive it home, then Edward will run over and they'll drive it back to meet us." Carlisle said, relieved. He let out a long gust of air.

"Remember after a while, Edward and Bella were jumping around, and Alice and I came in announcing that there was a storm coming." I threw in, and smelled the blood rushing to Bella's face.

"We can't play a game. That's where we met James, Laurent and Victoria." Rosalie protested.

"Yes, we can't go through that again." Carlisle said, then set the marker down. I think we've got it. We have to do this as soon as possible. It's still morning. Emmett, if you might run Bella out to her truck? Bella get changed when you get home so we can get this on track, you can leave when Edward arrives."

"Sure, come on little Bella," Emmett said, scooping Bella up, resulting in a squeak from her, and then they were gone. Carlisle stood, silent, staring out the wall of windows into the forest beyond. I soon saw what he was watching for, and heard Bella's truck start up and fade away as Edward and Alice entered the house at the same time as Emmett.

"Wow, that was fun!" Alice said, her eyes glowing.

"I'm glad you had fun." Carlisle said absentmindedly. He must have told Edward to come back. "Your husband Jasper wants to show you something." Alice eyed me warily, her finger stuck in her mouth thoughtfully.

"Okay." She said, somewhat reluctantly. It made me sad how much reluctance she was actually feeling, and absolutely no recognition at all.

"Wait, if you might." Carlisle called. We turned around at the base of the stairs.

"I know you wanted to, or preferred to be called Glenda, but don't you like the name Alice?" He asked.

"It is a beautiful name, and it suits you so well." Esme said softly, following Carlisle in and smiling over at Alice.

"It would be so convenient for us to call you Alice. It does suit you." Carlisle smiled at her too, and waited as she deliberated.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, then I guess you could call me Alice. It is a pretty name. Aliceee. Alllllice. Aaaaalice." She rolled it around in her mouth, then grinned up at Carlisle. "Sounds good."

"Thank you Alic.e" He said, the relief coming off of him overpowered me for a second. I didn't realize how tense he had been about it.

"Well, come on then." I headed upstairs, her following close behind me.

"What are you going to show me, Jasper?" Alice asked as we rounded the corner. I didn't reply as I opened the door to Alice's room.

"This." Was all I said as she headed in. She looked around, then wandered into the giant closet. I followed her in, watching her touching all of her different clothes.

"Is this familiar?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't picking up on any different emotions.

"No. Is this all mine?" She asked, still wandering around. She disappeared into the second part of the closet.

"Ours." I replied, staying where I was. She peeked back around the corner.

"We are married." She said. There was no discovery in it. I didn't feel any recognition.

"Yes, we've been married for a long time." I replied. I felt tired despite the fact that I wasn't able to sleep.

"How old am I?" She asked, sitting down on the floor below me. I sunk down across from her.

"Eighteen." I replied.

"Do I go to school?"

"Forks High."

"I'm a vampire."

"Yes."

She thought about it, looking at me. She seemed to be sizing me up, deliberating. I sighed and decided to tell her her beginning.

"Alice, you were in an asylum for the last part of your human life, they thought you were crazy for your visions. There was an old man who thought you were endearing, and there was a vampire named James who was after you, he wanted to kill you. The old man changed you, but you were dead to the world." I said, trying to get it all out at once. She sat, quiet.

"No, that wasn't how it went." She said after some time.

"Then, how do you think you were born?"

She didn't answer, rather sat, staring at me. I stared back, slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm trying to remember you." She murmered. I registered Emmett and Rosalie leaving, and the roar of the truck turning up the driveway. It was a few minutes before it came into view. I left the closet and looked out the window at the red truck in the drievway. Edward opened the passenger door for Bella.

"Who's that?" Alice asked, coming up beside me.

"That's Edward, with his girlfriend Bella." I replied, taking note of her skirt and dark blue blouse. Her hair was even in a ponytail.

"Edward has a girlfriend?" Alice asked quietly.

"Yes, we're going to meet her." I replied, turning to Alice.

"Right now?"

"In a few minutes.

I listened downstairs for the door to open, listening to their conversation outside and for Bella to enter. It was a few seconds before Edward spoke his first words.

"Carlisle, Esme, this is Bella."

"You're very welcome Bella." Carlisle said, and the tension in his voice was unmistakeable, though he tried to cover it with ease. I heard their hands meet and the clothing ruffle as they shook hands.

"Now?" Alice whispered.

"Get changed into something suitable." I whispered back.

"Carlisle." Bella said, and I heard her hesitation as well. I heard Esme and Bella's hands meet. We only had a few seconds. Alice came out of the closet in a blue dress. _The_ blue dress. I sighed in relief.

"Is this okay?" She asked, looking down at herself self-conciously.

"It's beautiful." I replied as she held up the light grey shirt and light blue jeans. Oh thank the Lord. She had picked out the right outfit for me.

"I picked out something for you too." She said. I smiled and disappeared into the closet to pull the clothes on.

"Thank you." I said, grabbing her hand and jogging towards the door.

"Where are Alice and Jasper?" Edward asked, and I felt the intense relief of the family as we appeared in sight at the top of the staircase. I saw they had all changed into the outfits they were wearing the day we met Bella. Carlisle gave me a small smile in encouragement,

"Hey, Edward!" Alice said enthusiastically. We desended the stairs, but then Alice stopped, staring at Bella. She didn't run towards her or try to kiss her cheek . This seemed like it was fast going off track.


	3. Three

"Um, Alice; shouldn't you know who this is?" Edward coaxed after he heard my panicked thought.

"Well, Jasper told me that she's your girlfriend." Alice said slowly. Edward twisted his mouth in distaste. _What? _I mouthed and thought at him. He just shook his head slightly.

"Don't you want to be nice and greet her? Show some manners?" Carlisle asked, almost like he was talking to a toddler. Alice seemed to respond to this and took slow, unsure steps towards Bella. She reached out her arms and Bella engulfed her in a hug.

"Wow, you do smell nice." Alice said, still unsure. "A lot nicer up close." She started breathing in deeply at her neck and Edward, acting quickly, cut in between them.

"Alice, you know that we live a 'vegetarian' lifestyle." Edward said sternly. "Humans are off limits."

Alice shrank back from Edward's harsh tone and I grabbed ahold of her hand. She jerked away and I couldn't help the feeling of disappointment and helplessness wash over me. I saw Alice frown as well, and realized that I had projected my own feelings again, enough that it hit Alice. I reigned it back in. I had to be more careful about this. It was the second time it had happened and I hadn't realized it.

"Come on Alice, let's go upstairs and leave Edward and Bella alone." I whispered. She followed me upstairs and into my study. I closed the door behind her. She sat down on the couch against one wall, pulling her thin legs up under her.

"Did that event seem familiar at all?" I asked, sitting down next to her, on the other end of the couch.

"No, should it have?" Alice's voice was small. Nothing like the bubbly personality she used to have. "We were meeting Edward's girlfriend, has he brought home many?"

"No, no. That's fine." I said, trying to keep my voice even while my body wanted to break down and cry, great racking sobs. My chest seemed to agree with this thought, trying to engage in dry-heaving. I then thought of something that might bring it all back to Alice.

"Alice, may I try something? I don't want to frghten you, but it may jog your memory." I said hopefully. She nodded, her short black hair bouncing.

I cupped my hand around her small jaw, stroking her soft face with my thumb. I leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on her unyielding lips then backed away from her. She stayed silent for moments, and I stared at her, waiting for her to respond.

"That was really nice and all, but I don't appreciate the come-on." She said finally. My jaw dropped, quite involuntarily. I shook it off and looked around the room.

"Well, do you know what part of the house this is?" I gestured towards the rest of the room, trying to ignore my hurt.

"A study?" She asked, looking up at me.

"Yeah, whose study?" I asked, feeling like I was grilling her.

"Yours?" She said smally, scrunching her face up as if hoping she was right. I heard feet coming up the stairs and an apprehensive and determined feeling along with it. It was Edward of course, his kind of calm. He slowly opened the door and peeked around it.

"Alice, Carlisle wants to see you downstairs." He said, opening the door all the way for her. She nodded and got up and walked to the door. She didn't dance, and she didn't look graceful in the way she usually did as she left and went out of sight. Edward came and sat down next to me, sighing deeply.

"Jazz, I don't know if forcing yourself on her is the right way to approach this." He said fluidly, as if it was merely a speech he'd memorized. "The more you seem to throw yourself at her, the more she seems to be pulling away and not much closer to remembering what she needs to."

"All I want is to have Alice back like before." I said, running my hand through my hair. It wasn't necessary, I was just stressed out. Edward put his hand on my arm reassuringly.

"Carlisle's been formulating another idea in his mind. He's not ready to share it with the rest of the family yet, but it might work. We can't know anything for sure yet." Edward said softly "But I think that you need to give her some space."

"We've barely been apart since the day we met. How is it going to bring her memory back if I'm not around." I raised my voice slightly, and it cracked on the last word.

"You're crowding her. It's repressing things, I think." Edward pursed his lips.

"Wait a second. You can hear her think!" I said suddenly, shrugging out from under his touch. I pointed at him. "What is she thinking?!" Edward cleared his throat uncomfortably, yet very unnecessarily.

"I dont..." He began.

"Tell me!" I said exasperatedly, cutting him off. He took a second before answering, his emotions crossing between wariness and defeat.

"She's not thinking anything at all, really. It's like listening in on a child's brain, she's only thinking of the stuff at hand. Like if she's looking at a book, she's only thinking about the words." He was looking at me, listening in my head and judging my reaction.

"Oh." I replied. It was all I could.

"She doesn't really pay attention to anything either. She's blissfully unaware." He added, twisting the knife in my gut. I cringed and stood up. Edward followed suit and left the room. I went after him and ended up in the kitchen with the rest of the family with the exception of Rosalie and Emmett. I looked around at the family leaning against the counters or standing and looking out the window.

"Hello Jasper." Esme said, smiling almost hopefully over at me. Her eyes crinkled up at the sides as she put a hand on my shoulder.

"Are we going to try to do anything else?" Bella asked suddenly, her voice small.

"We may." Carlisle replied, staring out the window. "We can discuss something though. Edward, get Alice a puzzle. The one with 2000 pieces. Edward left the room and was back quickly with a large puzzle box. It had two white tigers playing in the snow on the front where almost everything was white.

"Excellent. Set it on the floor out here for her." Carlisle said, nodding. Edward opened the box and turned to Alice.

"Hey, you want to do this puzzle?" Edward asked Alice. Her eyes lit up and she bounced up and down before plunking herself onto the floor and turning the pieces over with child-like movements. Carlisle motioned for us to follow him and led us into the room off of the living room that was seldom used. He pulled a thin sheet off of the whiteboard.

"Quickly family, we need Alice's old personality traits before we start anything else. She'll only be distracted for four or five minutes.

"She did have the ability to see the future." Esme said, "Doesn't she still?"

"Very faintly. She sees it, she doesn't know it." Carlisle replied, writing it on the board.

"She was bubbly, she danced everywhere." I put in. "Now, she just walks like any normal person."

"She was nice, and always seemed to know what she was doing." Bella said. "Incredibly caring."

"Right." Carlisle murmured, writing it onto the centre of the board.

"Hey guys." Rosalie said, gliding into the room. She stopped beside Esme.

"Where's Emmett?" Bella asked, looking behind her.

"He decided to watch Alice put the puzzle together. She seems to be having small problems with it."

"She's a vampire. She should still be able to do vampire things, she just wouldn't know who she is." I stated, almost testily and angrily. Everyone's heads whipped over to look at Edward.

"She doesn't really know she's a vampire. It's like, not only was her memory of who she was is gone, but any memory of who she is and how to do things. She had to learn her large motor functions all over again and she's working on her small motor functions. When we went hunting, I had to grab an animal for her." Edward said calmly, looking around at each of us. His eyes paused as they met mine, and he held them there for what seemed like a long time.

"No. This isn't right. How could this have happened?" Carlisle looked confused as he pondered.

"What if there's someone conspiring against our family?" Rosalie put in suddenly.

"Who would be against us?" Esme asked, feeling worried. Compassionate Esme, seeing the best in everyone.

"Anyone who wanted to be, really." Edward muttered. A squeal of approval came from the kitchen. It was Emmett, and he was cheering Alice on.

"Well, what's more is how they did it." Carlisle stroked his chin.

"She had a very forceful personality." Esme brought our previous topic back up.

"She loved to go shopping. She loved to dress people up." I said.

"Has she retained any of those qualities?" Carlisle asked.

"She picked out an outfit for me." I shrugged, but nothing else seemed to fit into what Alice was now. All of a sudden, realization from Bella's way hit me suddenly and forcefully, covering the slight panic of the room.

"She loved shopping!" She said suddenly, brightly. "What if she took me shopping? Rosalie would come, of course. So she doesn't .. attack me? A girls day." She sounded so confident in her idea.

"We're going to wear her out." I said tiredly.

"But she started to get close to you before, smelling at your neck." Edward said protectively, putting his arm around Bella.

"I don't think Alice would ever attack me." Bella said, trying to convince Edward.

"It's not you I'm worried about, he said, pressing his lips to the top of Bella's head. "What if the smell of blood in the mall drives her crazy?"

"Isn't it worth anything to try, Edward?" Carlisle asked, he had finished writing it on the board, weighing the pros and cons. The cons outweighed the pros, but he seemed to think differently than the board said. "Let her go, Rosalie will be with her."

"Fine." Edward caved, but muttered about following them, but another cheer from the kitchen clouded his words. I went out, Carlisle following me, and looked at Alice's finished puzzle, her face shining with the accomplishment. Emmett seemed to look as happy as she.

Before I got to say anything about it, Rosalie and Bella came into the kitchen side by side.

"I'm thinking about getting a few new outfits." Rosalie said, projecting her voice towards Alice. This caught her attention as she looked her way.

"I don't think I want to go with you." Bella replied, pretending to sulk. "I hate shopping."

"But I need some new outfits." Rosalie whined. Alice stood up.

"Are you going shopping?" She asked.

"I'm thinking about it. Do you want to come with?" Rosalie said, smiling vibrantly at her.

"I don't know if I like shopping." Alice said thoughtfully. This news staggered Rosalie visibly, but she quickly recovered.

"Then come with me. Bella, you'll come too." Rosalie tried to convince Bella, obviously a show, but Alice seemed to be buying it.

"Well, alright. I'm not happy about it." Bella frowned.

"Do you know how to drive, Alice?" Bella turned to her. Alice shook her head violently. Bella sighed.

"Carlisle, we're taking your car, please." Rosalie said, Carlisle nodded and they left into the garage. The purr of the motor was soon heard pulling out of the driveway and down the road.

The sudden, oerwhelming desire to follow made my breath catch in my throat. I had to lean against the counter for a moment, not believing it. I hadn't felt strong hurt like this as a vampire, ever. Even when I was with Maria. I didn't think that we felt things like this, even if our emotions were magnified. I saw Edward looking at me out of the corner of my eye and I ran upstairs and into Alice's room, where I launched myself at the bed and curled up into the fetal position.


	4. Four

I laid, knees drawn up to my chin, staring at the wall, hoping so much that Rosalie took the convertible, or even had the common sense to roll down the windows. I was worried about Alice, that she might not be able to hold back on her bloodlust in the car with Bella, or in the mall, as she barely even registered that she was a vampire. My mind involuntarily flashed back to being in the car with Bella, remembering how delicious she had smelled, the flowery scent she carried. Venom flowed into my mouth at the thought of it.

"Are you really going to just lay there like a square?" The door smashed against the wall as Edward and Emmett walked in, startling me. I rolled into a crouch at the sound of the door making contact with the wall. Emmett rolled his eyes, smiling, and Edward gave me a disapproving scowl. I shrugged at him.

"Or are you going to see how Alice is faring at the mall? She might need you for calming down purposes, you could probably feed some calm into her." Carlisle walked in behind the two, hands in pockets.

"I didn't even realize." I said miserably, straightening out from my crouch, putting my head down. "I didn't think that I could be of any help."

"Well, you can bro." Emmett boomed. "And we're coming with you." Their faces were set, and determination and wariness rolled off of both of them. Carlisle looked at me with a grim smile, confusion and hopefulness radiating from him. I silently thanked them all for their support, and saw a twitch of a smile on Edward's face.

"Shall we run?" Edward gave an unexpected smile, and confidence surged off of him. Confidence of his running skills, no doubt.

"It'll definitely get us there faster." I agreed, and followed their retreating figures out the door.

I showed up by their side milliseconds later, and we all nodded, not needing words to communicate and took off, running in a formation. Edward, being the fastest of us, led, flanked by Emmett and I on both sides.

"I'm worried about the position that Bella's put herself in." Edward muttered, seemingly to himself.

"She's a strong girl, besides, Rosie won't let anything happen to her. She wants her to be human, and she's definitely strong enough to hold off Alice." Emmett said coolly, confident of the ability of his wife.

"And it's not like Alice remembers the fighting stuff I taught her, she'd fight like a small child." I put in sadly. I wished that I could just have my Alice back.

"We're doing the best we can." Edward said grimly, taking a turn into the outskirts of Port Angeles.

It seemed that we had gotten there just in time. Alice's head was swiveling back and forth like a bobblehead as she looked at all the different humans walking past her. She hadn't even seemed interested in shopping at that point, but to my huge relief I saw bags lining her frail-looking arms. I felt her bloodlust, and sighed, closing my eyes.

"Dude, calm her down." Emmett said, peeking out from behind the frond he was hiding behind and looking at Alice's reaction. I stayed hidden, peering though the trunks of the decorative trees the three of us were staying out of sight behind.

"I can't without causing everyone within ten feet of us to drop to their knees from calm." I waved my arm around at the people milling past us.

"We could make the best of having them on their knees." Emmett winked at me, a cheesy grin on his face.

"That's enough." Edward said, a final tone to him.

"Prude." Emmett shot at him. Edward ignored the comment and turned to me.

"Can you get closer to take in some of her bloodlust to get her to focus on shopping? Follow her around, but not too close?" Edward asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I think I can, it's worth a try anyway." I said, stepping out and walking so that I was leaning on a pillar closer to her.

Alice's bloodlust surprised me, and I had a sharp intake of air. She was really feeling it. I took most of it, trying to stop my jagged breath in the meantime and replaced her emotional turmoil with a compulsion to spend. I saw Alice's head stop swiveling around.

"Guys, let's go to Hollister!" Alice said, bounding towards the store, Rose and Bella followed her faithfully, sharing a puzzled and hopeful look, but I couldn't follow. I was paralyzed with the bloodlust that Alice had been feeling.

"Project it onto me." Edward's soft voice came from very close beside me. "Trust me, I can handle it better." I would have taken that as an insult, if my body hadn't been shaking from the need and want to take blood. I hesitated before projecting it on Edward, opening my eyes as I did so. I saw his eyes darken considerably, and his jaw working to keep his mouth closed, but he had handled it better than I would have. I was so proud of him. I projected confidence in his ability to not succumb to it at him as well, and his eyes lightened back up.

"Wow. That was strong. Like a newborn." Edward let out a long breath of air, and then switching gears isntantly. "Now we need to follow her into that store, to keep her sane until this madshow is over." He shook his head.

"Hopefully soon." I said, striding off towards it, Edward in tow and Emmett striding along behind us.

"What's your opinion on the effectiveness of this?" I muttered to Edward as we slunk around the dark edges of the store, keeping a keen eye on Alice, and a steady flow of bubbly excitement going to her, but making sure to keep it pure and without bloodlust.

"I'm wary." Edward replied, looking over at the girls. "Any moment she could spring and try to attack someone, especially with the heat and darkness of the store."

"We've got the both of us to keep an eye on her emotions and thoughts, so I think we'll be okay, but it's her memories that I want to see about getting back." I replied, noticing for the first time what Edward was talking about. It was humid, and the air was thick with the smell of sweating humans. Alice was cautiously looking at clothes, but with none of the passion that she used to hold for it. I frowned. "We also have Emmett for the muscles if it comes down to it."

"What?" Emmett said, only half interested as he browsed through some t-shirts. Edward reached over and brushed his hands across his Emmett's arm.

"Don't draw any attention. Alice isn't very bright." I growled lowly at Edwards words. Edward spoke quickly "Right now due to certain circumstances. But something big could draw attention. We're lucky she barely knows of her vampiric abilities right now. She could easily hear or see us if she wasn't oblivious." I sighed, and Edward nodded, just as Alice turned to Rosalie and Bella, pouting.

"You guys haven't bought anything. I want to go home." She said, appearing as if she was going to pull a tantrum.

"Relax Alice. We can take you home, it's not really any problem." Rosalie said, her voice light.

"Now's the time we leave." Edward muttered, turning on his heel and whipping out of the store. I followed him, pulling Emmett along with me and following Edward outside and into the woods.

"Hopefully she isn't going to smell us." Emmett said, looking behind him back at the mall.

"I don't think she's going to." Edward confirmed. "But it's hard to sift through all of the thoughts. They all run together."

"Is she experiencing visions?" I asked as we took off back towards the house.

"Yes, but she thinks that they're the decisions that she's making. I mean, essentially they are, but she has no knowledge that they are." He sounded and felt exasperated. No more was said as we made it back to the house.

"Any luck?" Carlisle asked, strolling into the foyer as we entered.

"I think we helped." I nodded. Edward gave a sound of assent.

"So, what happened?" Carlisle said calmly, then lowered his voice. "I don't want to say it, but I was expecting the worst."

"Well, she had quite a bit of bloodlust, so much that it was overwhelming for Jasper. I took it, but it was strong and I had to struggle to keep it in check. She was interested in shopping, but not overly like usual." Edward said, hanging his head. "I don't know how to fix this."

"Don't think like that. There's always a solution for everything." Carlisle said calmly.

"How can you think that after being a doctor for so long? Haven't you experienced that not everything has a solution? Cancer? You've never fixed that." I put in, keeping my voice in check.

"Jasper, when you've been a doctor as I have, you turn to the lighter side of things. Sure, there are things that seem like they can't be fixed, but there are treatments that can slow down the death. We, in sense, are treating Alice." Carlisle replied.

I put my head down, not wanting to argue with Carlisle any more, silencing myself. It was in good time because it was then that Alice, Rosalie and Bella pulled into the driveway and walked into the house. The family rushed over to greet them, but I stayed in the background. It seemed nobody noticed. Not even Alice.


End file.
